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Ventures, January 17

Bianca D?Angelo

Published January 16, 2008 at 6:35 p.m.

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Toy-A-Month Club LLC.

Toy-A-Month Club LLC.

Developing Minds Software

Developing Minds Software

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Toy-A-Month Club LLC

* Age-appropriate monthly toys

Price: $61-$230, plus $5 for shipping

Where you can get it: toyamonthclub.com

Business owners: Jennifer McMeekin and Bethany Cape

Location: Aurora

Tidbits: The perfect baby gift does exist - 12, to be exact.

All you, the baby-gift shopper, must do is join McMeekin and Cape's Toy-A-Month Club, and the infant in your life will receive one age-appropriate toy a month for up to 12 months.

"We're not selling a toy in a box," co-owner McMeekin said.

"Our goal is to make each package personal while encouraging parent and child interaction."

Customers may join the club for a minimum of three months or for up to a year - or choose to have one toy sent every quarter.

The toys begin with a Back Seat Travel Mobile to engage visual activity in the first month and end with the Oval Xylophone to develop hand-eye coordination. McMeekin and Cape also include, at no extra charge, age-appropriate baby-activity cards, a list of developmental milestones the child should reach that month and a personalized card from the sender. Each gift comes packaged in Toy-A-Month Club ribbon, but gift wrap is available at an additional cost.

For more information: toyamonthclub.com or 303-803-5626

Developing Minds Software

* Web-based software for people working with special-needs children

Price: Call for pricing

Where you can get it: developingmindssoftware.com

Business owners: Dawn and Mason Gregg, Michael Erskine, Colette Hanley and Lynn Sargent

Location: Denver

Tidbits: Dawn Gregg, an information systems professor at the University of Colorado Denver, originally wrote her Web-based software several years ago to track the progress of her son, who has autism. But it would take a group of her ambitious software club students to help get the company off and running.

Gregg says the software allows teachers, parents and therapists to create individual learning objectives for each special-needs child.

The adult then takes the data, inputs all the information into the standard Web forms and the software computes whether the child has met the educational goals.

"Users can track children's educational tasks, as well as their interactions and behaviors," Gregg said.

"We used to keep the data on paper in 3-inch, three-ring binders, and it's really hard to process that much information when it's not electronic."

Gregg added that users have access only to their students' or child's information.

For more information: developingmindssoftware.com or 1-888-595-5195